the 


TWENTY-SECOND 


ANNUAL  REPORT 


OF  THE 


BOARD  OF  DIRECTORS 


OF  THE 


MERCANTILE  LIBRARY  ASSOCIATION, 


CLINTON  HALL,  NEW- YORK. 


JANUARY,  1843. 


NEW-YORK: 

PRINTED  FOR  THE  ASSOCIATION, 
By  James  P.  Wright, 

No.  41  Pine  Street. 

1843. 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


ANNUAL  MEETING 


The  Twenty-second  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Mercantile  Library  Associa- 
tion was  held  at  Clinton  Hall  on  Tuesday  evening,  January  10th,  1843. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the  President,  on  whose  motion  Philip 
Hone,  Esq.,  was  called  to  the  chair. 

The  minutes  of  the  last  general  meeting  of  the  Association  were  read  and 
approved. 

The  Treasurer  presented  his  Report  of  the  Receipts  and  Expenditures  of 
the  past  year,  which  was  accepted. 

The  President  read  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Direction,  which 
was  adopted,  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  R.  E.  Lock  wood,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  the  Mercantile  Library  Association  do 
hereby  take  this  occasion  of  expressing  their  unfeigned  sorrow  for  the  removal 
by  death  of  their  late  Librarian,  Edward  Cahoone,  which  melancholy  event 
has  occurred  since  the  last  Annual  Meeting — cherishing  a  high  respect  for  his 
memory,  and  bearing  testimony  to  the  faithful,  intelligent,  and  amiable  char- 
acteristics which  were  invariably  manifested  in  his  intercourse  with  the 
members,  whether  as  an  officer  or  as  a  man. 

A  proposed  amendment  to  Article  11,  Chapter  II.,  of  the  Constitution,  re- 
quiring the  Regular  Nominating  Committee  to  make  their  report  four  weeks 
before  the  Election,  instead  of  three  weeks,  as  now  provided,  was,  after  a  brief 
discussion,  laid  on  the  table. 

A  motion  to  amend  Article  6,  Chapter  I.,  by  striking  out  the  requirement 
of  a  membership  of  at  least  one  month  to  give  any  member  the  right  to  vote, 
was  discussed  at  length  by  several  members.  The  amendment  was  not 
adopted,  less  than  two-thirds  voting  in  the  affirmative. 

Mr.  Edmund  Coffin  addressed  the  meeting  in  support  of  a  plan  for  a  sys- 
tematic course  of  instruction  for  the  members,  by  the  establishment  of  Pro- 
fessorships for  the  delivery  of  Lectures  on  the  Principles  and  Statistics  of 
Commerce,  Natural  Philosophy  and  History,  etc. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Gourlie,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Direction,  which  shall  be  chosen  at  the  en- 
suing Election,  be  requested  to  consider  the  expediency  of  instituting  Lectures 
by  stated  Professors,  and  report  thereon  to  a  meeting  of  members. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  E.  H.  Grandin, 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  meeting  be  and  are  hereby  tendered  to 
Philip  Hone,  Esq.,  for  the  able  and  dignified  manner  in  which  he  has  pre- 
sided over  our  deliberations  on  this  occasion. 


On  motion  of  Mr.  J.  W.  Greaton, 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  members  be  tendered  to  John  T.  Rollins, 
Esq.,  for  the  able  Report  presented  this  evening,  on  behalf  of  the  Board  of 
Direction. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Geo.  C.  Baker, 

Resolved,  That  our  acknowledgments  are  eminently  due  to  the  officers  of 
The  Clinton  Hall  Association,  in  their  individual  and  corporate  capa- 
city, for  the  interest  they  have  continued  to  manifest  in  the  advancement  and 
prosperity  of  our  Institution. 

On  motion,  adjourned. 

ISAAC  H.  BAILEY,  Recording  Secretary. 


BOARD  OF  DIRECTION  FOR  1842. 

JOHN  T.  ROLLINS,  President, 
HENRY  R.  PRALL,  Vice  President, 
CUTHBERT  C.  GORDON,  Corresponding  Secretary, 
ISAAC  H.  BAILEY,  Recording  Secretary, 
SAMUEL  K.  SATTERLEE,  Treasurer. 

DIRECTORS. 

SILVANUS  MILLER,  Jr.,       I     WALDRON  B.  POST,  Jr., 
CHARLES  M.  WHEAT  LEY,       WILLIAM  H.  GRENELL, 
REUBEN  BURKHALTER,      |     DANIEL  C.  HYDE, 
BENJAMIN  POMEROY,  Jr. 


BOARD  ELECTED  FOR  1843. 

LEWIS  Mc MULLEN,  President, 
RICHARD  BURLEW,  Vice  President, 
ANTHONY  HALSEY,  Corresponding  Secretary, 
WILLIAM  M.  PARKS,  Recording  Secretary, 
JAMES  A.  WILLIAMSON,  Treasurer. 

DIRECTORS. 

CHARLES  M.  WHEATLEY,  JOHN  O.  STEVENS, 
CUTHBERT  C.  GORDON,  JOHN  A.  CLARK, 

BENJAMIN  POMEROY,  Jr.,        JOHN  T.  LANMAN, 
HENRY  G.  SCUDDER. 


TWENTY-SECOND  ANNUAL  REPORT, 


GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  I 

The  occasion  for  the  yearly  account  of  the  affairs  and 
doings  of  our  Institution  since  the  last  Annual  Report  was  pre- 
sented, recurs  as  a  pleasing  celebration  of  its  continued  prosperity 
and  of  the  sure  progress  of  its  refining  and  dignifying  influences. 
The  statement  of  its  past  year's  business  becomes  due  with  the 
satisfactory  reflections  of  a  term  passed  happily  and  safely  to  our 
Association,  in  times  of  remarkable  distress  in  our  mercantile 
community. 

Although  reduced  in  our  pecuniary  income,  and  suffering 
thereby  a  share  in  the  effects  of  commercial  depression  in  our 
city,  we  still  can  go  forward,  successfully,  in  ministering  to 
those  higher  wants  of  mental  life  which  it  has  been  for  years 
our  delight  to  find  supplied  within  these  halls. 

In  making  statistical  and  other  statements,  the  Directors  desire 
to  be  guided  by  the  simplicity  of  facts,  and  to  avoid  assertions 
which  might  in  any  way  overrate  the  numerical  or  moral  degree 
of  our  strength,  operations,  or  progress.  The  Treasurer's  Re- 
port will  show  the  difference  in  the  total  revenues,  for  the  last 
year  and  the  previous  one,  to  be  against  the  former.  Unfortu- 
nately for  our  great  object,  the  Library  chiefly  suffers  the  bad 
effect  of  such  a  decrease,  by  the  necessary  reduction  of  book 
purchases  whenever  the  resources  of  the  treasury  diminish. 
Yet  a  large  appropriation  of  funds  has  gone  to  maintain  the 
continuance  of  our  literary  supplies ;  and  we  have  the  pleasure 
to  see  that  the  money  disbursed  for  new  books  and  periodicals 
during  this  last  year  very  considerably  exceeds  the  outlay  of  the 
year  previous. 


6 


The  number  of  members,  as  stated  in  the  last  Annual 

Report,  was   3,868 

Deduct  subscriptions  closed,  which  expired 
in  1841  and  1842,  by  provision  of  the  7th 
art.  of  the  1st  chap,  of  the  Constitution ....  352 

Withdrawals  in  1842   452 

804 

Added  during  the  past  year   308 

  496 

Actual  number  of  members  1st  January,  1843   3,372 

Of  these  there  are 

Members  paying  annually  $2   2,884 

Do.  do.  $5   46 

Stockholders  of  Clinton  Hall  Association  292 

Honorary  members   150 

  3,372 


In  relation  to  the  Treasury,  the  Board  has  pleasure  in  direct- 
ing notice  to  the  fact,  that  notwithstanding  a  decrease  in  the 
number  of  members,  incident  to  the  general  depression  in  busi- 
ness, it  has  been  enabled  to  apply  to  the  most  essential  purposes, 
namely,  the  increase  and  preservation  of  the  Library,  upwards  of 
$3,000,  after  paying  current  expenses  and  leaving  a  balance  of 
8355  53. 


For  the  year  ending  December  31st,  1842,  the 

receipts  have  been   $6,139  90 

Expenditures   5,784  37 


The  institution  is  entirely  out  of  debt.  The  system  of  cash 
dealings  gives  it  a  vantage  ground  which  cannot  be  too"  strictly 
kept  in  all  its  financial  business. 


7 


The  Library  has  come  to  be  of  an  extent  and  value  to  make 
its  management  and  growth  the  paramount  object  of  our  care. 

A  false  delicacy  should  not  restrain  us  from  speaking  plainly 
of  the  abuses  which  our  books  surfer,  from  inconsiderate  and 
mischievous  ill  usage,  in  the  hands  they  pass  through  daily. 
The  practice  of  increased  vigilance  for  the  past  year  has  revealed 
from  time  to  time  some  flagrant  cases  of  the  mal-treatment,  des- 
truction, and  mortifying  loss  of  the  property  of  the  Institution. 
The  Board  cannot  refrain  from  urging  the  formation  of  a  stricter 
system  for  the  detection  and  punishment  of  offenders  in  this 
way.  It  may  safely  be  said,  that  no  public  library,  at  all  ap- 
proaching ours  in  worth,  is  so  little  protected  from  these  indis- 
criminate evil  practices. 

Some  of  the  mischief  alluded  to  arises  from  our  treating  as 
one  and  the  same  the  business  of  conducting  a  common  circu- 
lating library  and  one  of  a  more  permanent  kind,  formed  for 
purposes  of  study  and  research.  With  us,  the  greater  liability 
of  the  former  to  damage  opens  the  way  for  the  progress  and  im- 
punity of  its  own  abuses  in  the  latter  department.  The  protec- 
tive rules,  made  originally  for  a  small  establishment,  are  not  now 
compatible  with  the  preservation  of  our  great  abundance  of  good 
books.  It  is  plain  that  our  Library  management  needs  not  a 
little  improvement,  if  we  would  have  the  costly  materials,  gath- 
ered with  pains  for  our  individual  uses  and  enjoyment,  properly 
kept  and  treated.  It  is  just  to  state,  that  the  frequent  inexperience 
of  each  new  and  yearly  Board  of  Officers,  the  short  term  of  service 
of  most  of  the  Directors,  and  the  brief  leisure  of  the  exclusively 
eligible  clerk- members,  are  unfortunate  causes  of  a  want  of  precise 
and  elaborate  legislation  for  the  current  direction  of  the  Library 
discipline.  A  rigid  system,  properly  established  and  enforced 
would  do  much  to  cure  the  serious  evils  which,  it  is  incumbent 
upon  the  Board  to  recommend,  should  be  more  effectually  guard- 
ed against. 

It  is  suggested  that  the  plan  of  separating  the  more  perishable 
part  of  the  books  from  the  valuable  main  Library  is  worthy  of 
experiment  at  the  earliest  convenient  time.  As  matters  now  go 
on,  the  two  characteristic  extremes  interfere  seriously,  and  re- 
quire an  equal  care  for  their  preservation.  The  lasting  and  the 
transient  become  clogs  to  each  other.    The  latter  are  counted  as 


8 


dear  and  indispensable  for  the  future  as  the  former.  The  sta- 
tistics of  the  Annual  Reports,  by  representing  volumes  once  got 
as  always  had.  become  exaggerated  and  delusive,  and  the  manner 
of  cataloguing,  numbering,  and  recording  loans  of  books,  grows 
daily  more  cumbrous  and  worthless.  If  we  make  a  common 
Circulating  Library  a  distinct  and  neatly  managed  branch  of  our 
business,  and  give  the  volumes  belonging  to  it  a  separate  cata- 
loguing, numbering,  or  marking,  a  changeable  and  fresh  stock  of 
popular  reading  might  always  be  available.  This  can  properly 
include  many  grave  and  important  new  and  old  works,  which  a 
great  demand  requires  should  be  largely  supplied.  All  such 
works,  of  course,  may  likewise  find  their  proportionate  place  in 
the  main  Library,  with  the  books  '  for  all  time,'  which  shall 
then,  in  their  circulation,  be  under  better  observation  and  care. 
By  allowing  the  sale  or  exchange  of  the  short-lived  attractions, 
from  time  to  time,  their  cost  to  us  maybe  greatly  reduced,  while 
the  reserved  Library,  besides  being  less  impeded  in  its  growth, 
-will  happily  improve  more  than  ever  in  its  usefulness,  conve- 
nience, and  circulation.  In  our  present  condition,  this  sub- 
ject may  be  dismissed  in  the  words  of  a  great  Institution,  some- 
what like  ours,  lately  established  in  Europe.  The  Managing 
Committee  of  The  London  Library  says  :  "  Subscribers  can- 
"  not  reasonably  expect  for  their  very  moderate  annual  subscrip- 
"  tion  [£2 — the  initiation  fee  is  £6],  to  enjoy  advantages  which 
"  can  be  obtained  from  a  Circulating  Library,  only  for  a  subscrip- 
"  tion  of  many  times  the  amount." 

In  connection  with  this  change  in  our  internal  economy,  we 
are  again  reminded  of  our  want  of  additional  room,  occasioned 
by  the  inconvenient  overcrowding  of  our  book-shelves.  The 
new  shelving,  fitted  up  in  October  last,  is  reckoned  to  hold 
2.500  volumes,  and  is  of  greater  extent  than  that  at  present  in 
the  Reading  Room.  The  volumes  on  the  main  shelves,  which 
were  before  thrust  out  of  sight  in  many  cases,  have  been  brought 
fully  into  view  and  re-arranged,  so  as  to  expedite  the  finding  of 
any  work  required.  The  accommodations,  however,  are  not 
such  as  to  provide  space  for  the  immediate  certain  increase  to 
the  present  fulness  of  the  Library.  The  peremptory  necessity 
for  further  enlargement  of  shelf-room  is  apparent  from  the  fact, 
that  the  recent  increase  is  barely  sufficient  to  provide  for  the 
many  volumes  before  improperly  bestowed  in  the  obscure  back 


y 


rows  of  the  shelves.  The  entire  space  is  now  filled  to  its  ut- 
most proper  limit.  As  no  provision,  therefore,  exists  for  the  dispo- 
sition of  more  books,  unless  by  a  relapse  into  the  former  evil, 
new  space  for  placing  them  should  be  found  with  as  little  delay- 
as  possible. 

The  Directors  think  it  not  amiss  at  this  time  to  point  the 
attention  of  their  successors,  and  the  members,  to  the  pros- 
pect of  seeing  this  fine  Hall,  in  which  we  now  assemble,  availa- 
ble for  new  purposes,  and,  with  proper  alterations,  filled  with 
our  highly-to-be-prized  collection  of  books,  which  should  have 
no  hindrance  to  its  becoming  one  of  the  very  best  in  the  coun- 
try. By  converting  this  Lecture  Room  into  a  Library,  it  would 
furnish  a  spacious  area  in  its  midst  for  conversational  inter- 
course, while,  for  the  arrangement  of  a  Museum  and  Cabinet, 
and  for  Reading  Rooms  of  newspapers  and  periodicals,  the 
apartments  we  now  occupy  would  be  most  excellent.  Such  an 
expansion  of  our  habitation  would  allow  room  ample  for  growth 
in  every  respect  of  size,  attractions,  and  systematic  utility. 

The  Purchases  of  Books  have  been  made  with  what  discrim- 
ination the  opportunities  and  knowledge  of  the  Directors  would 
allow.  That  much  that  is  valuable  to  the  student  and  to  the 
reader  for  amusement  has  accrued  to  the  Library  during  the 
year,  a  reference  to  the  current  catalogue  will  clearly  show. 
The  Board  has  availed  itself  as  far  as  possible  of  what  assist- 
ance the  intelligence  of  its  friends,  members  of  the  Association, 
and  others,  could  give  in  this  behalf.  Owing  to  a  lessened  reve- 
nue, the  contemplated  addition  of  many  important  books,  includ- 
ing some  works  in  large  and  encyclopaedic  forms,  has  been  ne- 
cessarily delayed  beyond  the  term  of  the  expiring  year.  Unremit- 
ted pains  should  be  continued  in  the  acquisition  of  the  older 
portions  of  literature.  The  members  will  appreciate  rightly, 
without  question,  the  worth  of  good  books  not  of  recent  produc- 
tion, and  the  succeeding  officers  must  see  the  benefit  of  increas- 
ing such  a  solid  part  of  our  literary  material.  In  procuring  for- 
eign publications,  an  important  saving  is  made  by  ordering  the 
works  from  Europe  in  the  name  of  the  Institution.  The  ex- 
emption from  import  duties,  and  the  moderate  commission  paid 
on  the  purchases,  make  this  method  one  of  great  economy  to  our 
funds.  This  plan  recommends  itself  so  strongly  that  its  con- 
tinuance requires  no  urging. 


10 


The  number  of  volumes  in  the  Library,  as  stated  in 

the  last  Annual  Report,  was   23,432 

There  have  been  since  added,  by  purchase. .  1,185 
"  "  "  by  donation..  67 

  1,252 


Total   24,684 

It  should  be  understood,  that  in  the  usual  way  of  summing  up 
our  volumes,  allowance  is  not  made  for  the  books  worn  out,  dis- 
carded, and  lost,  since  we  began  "  numbering"  them  several 
years  ago.  Thus,  owing  to  the  defects  of  some  part  of  the  system 
of  the  Institution,  the  extent  of  the  Library  has  been  considerably 
over-estimated,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  know  what  is  near  the  true 
total  number  of  volumes. 

Donations  of  Books,  for  which  our  thanks  are  rendered,  have 
been  received  during  the  year  from  the  following  gentlemen, 
viz : 

Messrs.  Henry  Sherman,  Henry  G.  Bohn,  John  Loines, 
Charles  Lanman,  Charles  M.  Wheatley,  John  McKeon,  W.  C. 
Redfield,  A.  T.  Myrtle,  Thomas  W.  Clerk,  J.  &  H.  G.  Langley, 
R.  H.  McCurdy,  N.  J.  Bowditch,  James  T.  Fields,  John  G. 
McKean,  Wiley  &  Putnam,  James  Jenkins,  Jr.,  Henry  S.  Mc- 
Kean,  Geo.  C.  Schaeffer,  Greeley  &  McElrath,  John  G.  Barker, 
and  Doct.  A.  Sidney  Doane. 

Also,  from  the  following  Institutions  : 
The  Salem  Athenasum. 

The  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  at  Boston. 

The  Boston  Athenaeum. 

The  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History. 

The  Middlesex  Mechanics'  Association  at  Lowell,  Mass. 

The  growth  of  the  Library,  since  the  compilation  of  the  Sup- 
plementary Catalogue,  may  be  considered  . to  require  early  atten- 
tion to  the  construction  of  an  entirely  new  Catalogue  of  the 
whole  contents  of  the  establishment.  Upon  the  arrangement  and 
accuracy  of  this  Manual  depend  much  of  the  usefulness  of  a 
Public  Library,  and  its  facilities  for  furnishing  at  all  times  the 
literary  matter  of  which  it  is  the  depository. 


11 


In  the  month  of  April,  Mr.  Edward  Cahoone,  a  most  amiable 
and  worthy  officer  of  our  Institution,  died.  His  character  needs 
no  eulogy.  The  members  of  the  Association  will  ever  cherish 
the  memory  of  his  virtues.  His  faithfulness  as  an  officer  and  his 
purity  as  a  man  have  left  their  own  record  with  all  who  knew 
him. 

To  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Cahoone,  the 
Board  selected  from  the  many  applicants  for  the  Librarianship, 
Mr.  Henry  S.  McKean  ;  and  the  Directors  express  their  entire 
conviction,  upon  experience,  that  Mr.  McKean  is  highly  fitted, 
both  by  his  education  and  abilities,  for  the  place  he  now 
occupies. 

The  Reading  Rooms  continue  to  be  the  interesting  resort  of 
the  members  generally,  and  of  many  non-resident  visitors.  This 
highly  popular  appendage  to  our  Library  is  deserving  of  a  cher- 
ishing regard,  and  demands  to  be  looked  to  strictly  for  its  due 
regulation.  Inconvenience  results  from  the  want  of  a  perma- 
nent attendant  in  these  rooms,  where  the  personal  presence  of  a 
keeper  would  materially  promote  the  comfort  of  visitors,  and  se- 
cure the  perfect  and  necessary  order  of  its  furniture.  It  is  hoped 
that  ere  long  the  Association  will  be  enabled  to  make  a  judicious 
provision  for  this  desirable  improvement,  for  those  most  valuable 
works  placed  in  these  apartments  are  the  least  protected  from 
abuse  and  injury. 

The  Cabinet  has  received  many  important  additions  of  spe- 
cimens of  Mineralogy,  Geology,  and  Conchology,  with  other  ob- 
jects of  interest,  during  the  past  year. 

The  increasing  taste  for  scientific  investigation,  and  the  recent 
important  discoveries  in  Natural  Science,  render  this  collection 
doubly  interesting.  To  the  student  of  Natural  History  it  is  of 
value,  as  affording  types  of  Genera  which  would  not  be  easily 
determined  by  descriptions  which  are  often  ambiguous  and  per- 
plexing. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  a  case  was  procured  for  Geolo- 
gical Specimens  and  Fossils,  in  conformity  with  the  suggestion 
in  the  last  Annual  Report. 


L2 


That  this  interesting  branch  of  our  means  of  study  and  im- 
provement may  be  perfected,  the  Board  must  again  revert  to  our 
confined  space.  Offers  of  valuable  donations  are  made  contin- 
gent upon  their  due  arrangement  and  display,  and  the  necessity 
is  therefore  urged  for  larger  accommodations  in  this  department 
also. 

Donations  are  acknowledged  from  the  following  gentlemen  : 
Messrs.  N.  B.  Wilbur,  W.  H.  Pease,  John  H.  Redfield,  William 
Rankin,  Charles  M.  Wheatley,  D.  C.  Hyde,  Drs.  B.  W.  Budd, 
and  A.  S,  Doane,  Messrs.  Sheppard,  Brower,  and  Bradford. 

The  Course  of  Lectures  for  1S42-3  is  given  at  the 
Broadway  Tabernacle,  in  compliance  with  the  request  of  many 
of  the  members  of  our  Association,  and  by  consent  of  the  Clinton 
Hall  Association.  The  insufficiency  of  the  former  Lecture 
Room,  and  the  crowded  state  of  the  audiences,  had  imperatively 
demanded  a  change  of  place,  and  the  experience  of  the  past  jus- 
tified it.  It  was  apparent,  however,  that  such  a  step  would  be 
attended  with  a  great  increase  of  expense  ;  but  the  Board  deemed 
that,  desirable  as  an  income  from  this  source  may  be  considered, 
the  main  object  to  be  recognized  and  sought,  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Lecture  system,  was  not  of  a  pecuniary  character  ; 
and  that  the  hope  of  revenue  should  yield,  if  need  be,  to  the  ne- 
cessities of  the  audiences  and  to  a  just  observance  of  their  rights. 
The  Lectures  should  indeed  produce  a  revenue  adequate  to 
meet  their  expense,  but  they  ought  not  to  be  regarded  as  sources 
of  pecuniary  profit.  They  should  sustain  themselves,  but,  if 
profitable,  the  number  of  Lectures  should  be  increased,  or  the 
terms  reduced. 

The  Board  cannot  withhold  a  remark  upon  the  impolicy 
and  injustice  of  the  present  provisions  touching  the  delivery 
of  Lectures.  The  officers  of  the  Association  are  personally 
liable  for  the  necessary  contracts  and  engagements  ;  the  Asso- 
ciation reaps  only  the  benefits  ;  it  is  not  subject  to  loss,  and,  by 
virtue  of  the  existing  contract  with  the  Clinton  Hall  Associa- 
tion,  it  can  in  no  wise  (except  perhaps  by  the  law  of  the  land), 
be  held  responsible.  The  risk  assumed  therefore  is  not,  in  mer- 
cantile parlance,  a  fair  risk.  The  expectation  of  a  wiser  ad- 
ministration in  this  department,  because  of  this  personal  respon- 
sibility, is  unfounded.    A  regard  to  pecuniary  results  is  a  vir- 


13 


tual  prohibition  of  freedom  of  action  or  enlargement  of  design. 
It  cripples  and  fetters  every  plan  of  improvement  which  implies 
the  assumption  of  increased  responsibility,  and  it  closes  the  ear 
to  all  jnst  complaint  and  remonstrance.  A  design,  therefore,  of 
extending  the  benefits  of  the  Lecture  system,  removing  com- 
plaint, and  remedying  defects,  must  be  undertaken  at  the  per- 
sonal risk  of  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Direction  ;  and  in 
view  of  this  liability  it  should  surely  be  no  cause  for  surprise, 
that  a  systematic  persistence  in  a  disregard  of  the  claims  of  jus- 
tice should  obtain,  or  that  parsimony  and  selfishness  should 
usurp  the  place  of  that  liberality  and  beneficence  which  should 
distinguish  an  Institution  like  this.  Such  a  liability  may  like- 
wise operate  seriously  in  dissuading  many  persons  of  most  esti- 
mable character  and  influence  from  assuming  the  duties  and  re- 
sponsibilities of  office.  The  Board  therefore  cannot  withhold  its 
expression  of  the  unsoundness  and  impolicy  of  this  feature  of 
the  contract  with  the  Clinton  Hall  Association. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  surplus  of  the  Lecture  Fund,  re- 
maining under  the  control  of  the  Board  of  1841,  amounting  to 
8630,  was  permanently  added,  by  a  vote  of  that  Board,  to  the  funds 
of  the  Association,  to  which  it  had  been  some  time  previously 
loaned  for  its  use.  It  may  also  be  remembered  that  this  amount 
had  been  received  from  the  previous  Board,  with  the  suggestion 
that  it  might  be  used  in  the  creation  of  a  permanent  Lecture  Fund. 
The  amount  of  S'350  S9,  received  by  the  present  Board  from  its 
predecessors,  is  subject  to  a  resolution  that  it  shall  be  devoted  to 
the  specific  purposes  of  a  Lecture  Fund  :  and  whatever  surplus 
may  remain  in  the  hands  of  this  Board,  will  be  handed  to  its  suc- 
cessors, to  be  appropriated  to  the  same  object. 

While  the  Board  regrets  to  state  that  the  present  Course  of 
Lectures  has  not  received  that  favor  and  attendance  which  its 
excellence  and  the  selection  of  a  more  commodious  and  central 
room  had  promised,  (the  number  of  subscribers  being  less  than  to 
the  previous  Course.)  yet  no  doubt  is  entertained  of  the  policy 
and  necessity  of  the  change  of  place  :  and  the  conviction  is  estab- 
lished, that  a  Course  of  Lectures  of  equal  merit,  delivered  in 
Clinton  Hall  upon  equitable  principles  of  admittance,  would  not 
have  afforded  a  revenue  sufficient  to  defray  the  expense. 

The  Board  is  happy  to  express  its  convictions,  nevertheless, 
of  the  successful  service  of  popular  lectures  in  withdrawing  at- 


14 


tention  from  resorts  of  frivolous  or  vitiating  amusements,  in  fos- 
tering a  love  of  literature  and  more  rational  pursuits,  and  in 
suggesting  fruitful  topics  of  study  and  investigation.  Besides, 
Lectures  have  proved  highly  beneficial  in  their  social  influence  ; 
and  in  whatever  distrust  they  may  be  held  by  the  thorough  stu- 
dent, this  service  alone  affords  ample  argument  for  their  insti- 
tution. 

While  the  pursuit  of  literature  is  presented  as  a  task,  and 
mercantile  life,  affording  but  limited  leisure,  asks  for  relaxation 
and  amusement,  and  it  is  also  the  tendency  of  engrossing  occu- 
pation to  crush  the  love  of  study,  it  must  be  apparent  that  such 
means  of  popularizing  literature  become  indispensable,  and  are 
legitimate  and  commendable  objects  to  an  Association  of  such 
elements  and  intentions  as  our  own.  Therefore  it  is,  that  the 
present  Board  would  commend  this  department  to  the  warm  re- 
gard of  the  members,  and  to  the  thoughtful  care  and  protection 
of  its  successors. 

The  Board  would  take  this  occasion  to  state,  that  in  the  selec- 
tion of  Lecturers,  a  regard  has  been  had  solely  to  their  moral 
worth,  their  intellectual  attainments  and  literary  reputation  ; 
that  the  Institution  has  been,  and  ever  should  be,  most  jealously 
guarded  from  the  narrowness  and  partizanship  of  sectarian  or 
political  influence  ;  and  that  the  preponderance  of  one  or  another 
school  of  Lecturers  is  an  entirely  accidental  result  of  assiduous 
applications  made  to  an  equal  extent  in  all  quarters  for  men  of 
high  reputed  ability. 

Acknowledgments  are  due  to  The  Clinton  Hall  Associa- 
tion for  its  kind  permission  to  deliver  the  present  Course  at  the 
Tabernacle,  and  also  for  the  constant  courtesy  which  has  per- 
vaded its  intercourse  with  the  Board  during  the  past  year. 

The  Classes  are  in  continued  operation  in  various  branches 
of  important  useful  instruction.  Our  members  should  not  light- 
ly esteem,  or  be  insensible  to,  the  unusual  advantages  they  enjoy 
in  this  department  for  the  excellent  and  economical  acquirement 
of  much  valuable  knowledge,  which,  without  such  opportuni- 
ties, most  of  us,  probably,  would  be  obliged  to  forego  entirely. 

The  French  Class  is  under  the  tuition  of  Mons.  Simonne. 


15 


The  Spanish  Class  continues  to  be  instructed  by  Don  Carlos 
Rabadan. 

The  German  Class,  established  at  the  commencement  of  the 
year,  under  the  care  of  the  late  Professor  Nordheimer,  is  now 
suspended  for  want  of  pupils.  Mr.  Kaufmann,  the  appointed 
successor  of  Professor  Nordheimer,  bears  the  character  of  an 
able  scholar  and  a  highly  qualified  teacher.  The  Board  is  happy 
to  commend  him  to  any  of  the  members  wishing  instruction  in 
his  native  tongue. 

The  Class  in  Penmanship  continues  under  the  charge  of  Mr. 
A.  H.  Wheeler,  and  the  Book-keeping  Class  is  instructed  by 
Mr.  C.  C.  Marsh.  Members  may  receive,  as  usual,  from  these 
two  gentlemen,  the  necessary  training  for  mercantile  life  which 
they  are  so  well  qualified  by  their  skill  and  abilities  to  give. 

A  Class  in  Vocal  Music  was  formed  in  the  month  of  November, 
and  is  now  receiving  instruction  from  Mr.  Jas.  F.  Warner,  a  gen- 
tleman of  high  professional  repute  as  an  accomplished  and  suc- 
cessful teacher.  The  lessons  are  given  at  Mr.  Warner's  Music 
Rooms.  His  aptness  at  imparting  a  practical  and  theoretical 
knowledge  of  this  inestimable  art  is  acknowledged  by  those  who, 
as  his  pupils,  are  the  objects  of  his  zealous  interest. 

The  study  of  Vocal  Music  is  commended  as  a  healthful  and 
invigorating  practice  for  every  constitution.  Music  has,  how- 
ever, a  much  better  influence  to  boast ;  for  it  has  been  justly  af- 
firmed, by  a  high  authority,  that  "  this  delightful  and  dignified 
"  recreation  is  calculated,  more  than  any  other,  to  promote  con- 
"  cord,  to  bind  young  hearts  in  the  closest  sympathy,  and  to  foster 
"  a  community  of  sentiment,  which  may  endure  and  eventually 
"  sustain  them  in  coming  years  ;"  that  "  it  is  this  art  which  im- 
"  parts  that  inmost,  that  indispensable  warmth,  whence  the  will 
"derives  an  energy,  hope  a  brightness,  enthusiasm  a  strength, 
"  that  the  efforts  of  reason  alone  would  ever  fail  to  impart ;  that 
"  it  is  this  art  which  fortifies  the  resolution,  and  ennobles  the  aims 
"  of  its  votaries."* 


*  The  forming  of  a  Music  Class,  in  connection  with  the  Institution,  is  not 
a  novel  or  fanciful  experiment.  The  Lyceums  and  other  Associations  like 
ours,  in  the  cities  and  towns  of  England,  have  classes  in  Vocal  and  Instru- 
mental Music,  Elocution,  etc.    A  Report  of  one  of  the  Manchester  Lyceums 


16 


The  Twenty-second  Anniversary  of  the  Association  was 
celebrated  at  the  Broadway  Tabernacle,  on  the  9th  of  Novem- 
ber last. 

A  chaste  and  eloquent  oration  upon  Commerce  was  pronounced 
by  Charles  Eames,  Esq.,  followed  by  a  Satirical  Poem,  written 
by  Park  Benjamin,  Esq.,  for  the  occasion,  and  delivered  by  him 
with  very  happy  effect.  These  exercises  were  listened  to  by  an 
intelligent  auditory  with  warmly  expressed  admiration. 

A  number  of  the  members  and  friends  of  the  Association,  in- 
cluding several  invited  guests  and  many  ladies,  afterwards  par- 
took of  a  dinner  at  Niblo's  Garden,  at  which  Philip  Hone,  Esq., 
presided.  The  company  retired,  highly  gratified  with  the  novel 
and  intellectual  character  of  the  entertainment. 

The  last  Annual  Report  stated  that  a  Tablet  had  been  erected 
to  the  memory  of  John  W.  Stebbins.  As  the  Committee  en- 
trusted with  the  business  did  not  provide  for  the  expense  of  the 
work,  the  Board  (possessing  no  power  to  use  the  funds  of  the 
Association  for  such  purpose),  was  compelled  to  supply  the 
required  amount  by  other  means. 

By  donations  from  several  members  and  friends  of  the  Asso- 
ciation, the  sum  of  8170  was  collected,  and  the  deficit,  $80,  was 
temporarily  furnished  from  the  funds  arising  from  the  present 


mentions  that  "  at  the  celebration  of  its  thirteenth  anniversary  the  Vocal  Music 
Class  interested  the  company  with  songs  and  glees."  In  another,  "  the 
amusements,  generally  furnished  by  the  members  and  friends  of  the  Institu- 
tion, consist  of  instrumental  music,  singing,  and  recitation."  In  many  other 
English  Associations,  similar  to  ours,  the  study  of  Music,  especially  Vocal 
Music,  has  greatly  increased.  The  social  necessities  and  susceptibilities  of 
the  Mercantile  Library  Association  are  beginning  to  be  much  talked  of.  Can 
there  be  anything  better,  in  this  way,  cultivated  amongst  us,  than  that  "  con- 
cord" and  that  "  community  of  sentiment,"  which  the  authority  quoted  above 
(Mainzer)  so  earnestly  declares  are  preeminently  promoted  and  fostered  by 
this  "  delightful  and  dignified  recreation  ?" 

The  machinery  of  our  classes  is  simple,  and  easily  managed.  The  de- 
partment, by  its  present  system,  is  capable  of  any  degree  of  extension  in  its 
educational  purposes  and  its  organization.  The  Class-branch  is  made  in 
many  kindred  Institutions  abroad,  to  provide  means  for  learning  thoroughly 
whatever  art,  science,  or  language,  it  is  well  ascertained,  will  be  voluntarily 
studied  by  a  sufficient  number — the  subscribed  funds  of  the  Institutions  going, 
in  part,  to  support  the  expense  of  instructors,  etc. 


17 


Course  of  Lectures.  This  amount  remains  to  be  replaced  by  fu- 
ture subscriptions. 

The  two  Scholarships  conferred  upon  our  Institution  by 
Columbia  College,  are  now  filled  by  Messrs.  Charles  Reynolds 
and  William  J.  Frost :  one  of  them  becomes  vacant  in  October 
next,  and  the  other  in  October,  1S45.  It  is  well  that  the  mem- 
bers should  be  aware  when  these  valuable  gifts  become  open  to 
new  candidates,  as  it  is  important  that  sufficient  previous  time 
should  be  given  for  qualification. 

The  intercourse  of  this  Association,  during  the  past  year,  with 
Institutions  of  our  city,  with  those  of  Brooklyn,  Newark,  Boston, 
Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore,  has  been  of  a  useful  and  happy 
character,  and  is  worthy  of  continuance  and  encouragement. 

The  Board  now  surrenders  into  your  hands,  gentlemen  of  the 
Association,  the  trusts  confided  to  it,  with  a  consciousness  of  their 
great  value,  and  of  the  necessity  of  their  jealous  guardianship,  and 
with  the  earnest  hope  that  they  may  be  committed  in  all  serious- 
ness to  its  successors, — and  that  among  the  future  fruits  of  an 
Association  of  such  worth  as  ours,  a  more  sober  discrimination 
may  supply  the  place  of  that  turbulent  spirit  of  party  strife  which 
has  abounded  in  the  popular  elections  of  our  country,  and  infected 
our  own  choice  of  officers.  Indeed,  the  prevalence  of  this  spirit 
has  suggested  doubts,  in  the  minds  of  the  thoughtful  and  judi- 
cious, of  the  soundness  of  the  paramount  influences  of  our  Insti- 
tution. 

But  it  should  be  our  highest  pleasure  to  express  the  conviction 
that  our  Association  is  accomplishing  its  true  office  by  its  in- 
creased capacity  to  minister  to  the  intellectual  wants  of  its  mem- 
bers, and,  by  its  silent  but  efficient  agency,  to  elevate  and  dignify 
the  life  and  character  of  our  Clerks  ;  for  it  is  mainly  through  the 
reinforcement  of  their  cultivation  that  the  moral,  intellectual, 
and  social  character  of  the  merchant  is  to  be  purified  and  sus- 
tained. 

By  the  means  and  appliances  here  presented,  the  mental  pri- 
vations of  clerks  may  be  relieved  at  a  cost  hardly  appreciable, 
and  the  evils  incident  to  the  allurements  of  a  crowded  city  life, 


18 


the  engrossing  demands  of  business,  the  formality  and  unconcern 
of  commercial  relations,  and  the  absence  of  salutary  restraints, 
may  find  their  readiest  preventives  and  most  sufficing  remedies. 

Yet,  beneficent  as  are  the  ministrations  of  our  Institution,  ac- 
cessible as  are  her  stores  of  knowledge,  and  inexhaustible  as  are 
her  treasures,  to  the  indolent  or  the  inactive  they  are  as  if  they 
were  not.  They  demand  more  than  a  passive  regard,  and,  to 
those  who  have  not  learned  the  lesson  of  self-helpfulness  and  the 
need  of  self-culture,  no  wisdom  of  legislation  can  supply  the 
want  of  adequate  motives  and  genuine  impulses.  We  should  be 
urged,  therefore,  to  a  more  active  individual  interest  in  our  In- 
stitution, and  studious  improvement  of  the  accumulated  facilities 
it  so  liberally  affords. 

In  conclusion,  the  Board  would  present  prominently  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  Merchant,  the  fact  of  the  practical  effectiveness 
of  knowledge,  and  the  daily  business  need  of  mental  discipline 
and  cultivation,  of  faithfulness  and  integrity,  as  demanding  for 
this  Association,  even  upon  the  score  of  common  policy,  his 
more  cheering  countenance — his  more  cordial  favor  and  sup- 
port. 


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